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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

BWOF 02/2009 - 124 dress

Alternative titles for this post;

The Carolyn TNT dress.

The easiest dress I have ever made.

Seriously, what a great dress pattern this is! The dress was so easy to make that I really have nothing to say about the construction at all, but the cut and fit are great. No sleeves, no vent, just a simple versatile dress. I can see this made up in different fabrics and being perfect for work, casual or cocktail wear and that's without even starting to think about embellishments.

For this version (and yes I am certain there will be more), I used an embroidered cotton from my stash, it has a slight stretch to it but you don't need stretch fabric for this pattern. This version is unlined as I wanted to keep it as a simple cotton summer dress, although I think I could easily dress this up for a night out too.

Sizewise, I usually make a 38 with an FBA in wovens for BWOF, but I found (by the highly scientific pattern measuring system of holding the pieces up on my dressform) that this was not necessary for this dress so I made a straight 38, tapering out to a 40 in the hips. Something to watch out for if you are petite up top!

Really I highly recommend trying this pattern, I will have to exercise a lot of control not to end up with an entire closet full of these!

Thanks for the post! Great fit - and you can't give the pattern the credit for that! Having a dress fit that well requires alot of time, skill and patience! Also, I love the fabric choice! The first photo didn't capture the texture but the dress forms pics are great! Thanks again!Laura

I want to know what's wrong with having 12 of these in awesome colors and fabrics in your wardrobe. Do you know how well dressed you would be everyday? Or how easy it would be to get dressed in the mornings?

This is a versatile dress pattern, which I hadn't noticed before, and this version looks great on you. I always enjoy seeing your choice of fabrics. I imagine you have lots of places to shop for fabric. I would love to take one of the organized Sewing related tours of Hong Kong that I see advertised in magazines.

I was just trolling around on the web and came across this dress. This is sooooo pretty and I love the fabric you chose. I will have to muster up the courage to actually get my sewing machine out and try something. I can sew straight lines but that other stuff, I know nothing about. I was thinking about knitting a dress but I guess this would be the next best thing. Quicker too probably much harder. I wish I could find some fabric like that.

Definitely inspired by you, I'm just finishing my imitation...I found a cloque? black poly that has little glints where the fabric is stitched down. But I'm having more trouble fitting than you did..had to take the shoulder seams down half an inch, and take in a full inch at the centre back, tapering from a 42 top to a 44 bottom. Also took in a half inch at the centre front after testing on a lining version as the muslin. Warning to round shouldered people or shallow chested..this pattern must be adjusted before cutting out as there are few seams to work with on top!